Vibrant Pallidity
by TempestuousInquiry
Summary: You've heard the story of Roxas and Sora, but what about Namine? Roxas seems to be her only connection in her world, but is she mistaken? Starts from the end of KH to the end of KH2 inclds CoM and 385/2 Days.
1. Interval 1

**INTERVAL 1:**

She wakes to the artificial sun shining through her translucent, pallid curtains. Slowly, each set of eyelashes flutter upon opening eyelids to reveal the immaculate, sapphire-tinted doorways behind them. Eyes so full of innocence, wonder, and deep emotion, you find it hard to look away. We begin with this.

Nudging her feet under, she pulls back the neutral bedspread into a corner on the mattress and stretches her toes to the floor. The sudden change in temperature causes her to recoil at first, then she steps onto the cold, tiled ground. She walks to the window and throws the hangings open, staring at the same sight she's woken up to for years.

A synthetic sun, breaking over no sky. There was no sky. Just emptiness, with the illusion of light in this bleak, darkened place. She closes those blue portals of hers again and whispers the same thing she's whispered every morning of her existence:

"My name is Naminé."

-*-*-*-*-*-

Naminé unfolds the creased bed-covering back into it's place, the bed looking like she'd never slept there. The whole room shared that quality. The eggshell walls, the bleached armoire (which served absolutely no purpose), the lack-luster bed.

A single thing proved she was alive there. Her sketches: the only things that brought color, brought life into the monochrome expanse. She loved colors, the reds, blues, greens, and violets, all running together to create amazing vibrancy. Naminé believed color was the root of life. Standing in the pale room did not make her feel very alive. Or like she existed.

She walks to her painted vanity and makes a quick conclusion: she doesn't like what she sees. Running an ashen brush through her tangles, Naminé speaks with her most precious friend: herself.

"Who are you?" The question comes out small and hushed; she clears her throat to begin anew. "Who are you?" she asks again. There is no response. She realizes she doesn't have one.

Without warning, her mouth opens and her reflection speaks; her stomach drops at the sound. "I am you."

As uncomforting as it is, Naminé doesn't want to leave the cold security of her room. She can't stay in her room all day unless she is granted permission. She knows that no one's opinion will really change if she goes out there versus her not being out there, but someone will eventually notice if she never appears. Nobody came to check on her much, except the occasional visits from Axel, so this will be the only way for them to report to Xemnas that she hadn't been kidnapped or escaped.

Holding her sketchbook in one hand and the doorknob in the other, she looks back once more at the cage she will most likely enter again soon.

Glancing around the room, she catches her reflection in the glass, remembering her sudden outburst earlier. She quickly closes the door with a small click and takes a deep breath to face the strange people she has spent her life with for the past odd years.

She walks down the hallway.

--  
Hey, It's Tempest. I had to go through some heavy editing here, so everything's been on hold for awhile. But everything's fixed, so please continue reading! I promise the story makes sense now!

Please read!


	2. Interval 2

**INTERVAL 2:**She passes a couple empty rooms, starting to wonder where everyone was, but she isn't worried. They were all most likely wandering around as she was, looking for something to do to pass the time. Sure enough, one approaches her now.

Naminé doesn't have to guess who it is -- they hardly wear their hoods anymore and when they do, it isn't usually around her. Recognizing his face from afar, her stomach deflates and she becomes apprehensive. She tries to hide in an adjoining room, but he has already caught sight of her and marches forward, brisker than before with purpose.

"Ahh, Naminé." She freezes at his voice, feeling like a trapped rat. She isn't too fearful; she knows what will happen next.

She keeps her back facing Vexen. "How are we this morning?" he asks her; she can see the false, caring smile in her head without looking.

Keeping her breath at a steady pace, she just stands in silence, hoping he will lose interest. Vexen. Number IV. Element: Ice. Eldest member, and yet least respected. Naminé knows all about him. She knows also what others didn't.

As his hand touches her shoulder, she shudders. "Come now," he goes on, turning her around to face him. "I know you can speak. Now why don't you use that pretty little voice of yours, Naminé?"

Naminé. He is one of the few that calls her Naminé, but it was only to her face. It is to make her feel comfortable with him, which she isn't at all. She keeps her eyes away.

"Naminé? Don't you want to talk?" He grabs a lock of her dulled, golden hair between his fingers, slowly letting it fall and brush her face.

Then she makes a mistake. She looks briefly at his face, his eyes; just a second, but he's seen it. And she's seen it as well. The hunger. The desire and deprivation in those easily readable eyes of his. It is her he yearns for: her innocence, her purity, but as pure as she was, she is more knowledgeable than he is, no matter his age.

She pulls away. "I've to see Axel about a sketch," she lies horribly. He holds on for a moment longer, then lets the last strand of hair slip out of his grasp.

He sighs. "Run along, Naminé. I have things of my own to finish. I'll see you later, I'm sure."

She hopes not. She tries to throw him a look of disgust, but she can never manage a proper grimace. She lets him trudge on down the hall, watching until he was too far to see, then does she ran the opposite direction, locking away the new hate she feels for the ignorant man.

Catching sight of the library, Naminé walks straight in without hesitation. Pleasant experience or not, Vexen has seen her, so she has one witness; he can report to Xemnas if necessary. Although she's not sure how well the others will believe his word, she isn't in the mood to run into anymore unsettling confrontations.

-*-*-*-*-*-

The library was one of the few rooms in the place with color. She loved to sit and sketch here; the books gave her so many new ideas. She'd read all of them, of course, without Xemnas' permission, but she had an unquenchable curiosity; her mind soaked everything up like a sponge. Sometimes her and Axel would sit here and talk, but he is nowhere to be found today.

She sits at the large center table, a little disappointed and relieved that no one is around. She opens her blank sketchbook to the first empty page.

Getting up, she walks to one shelf and grabs the book she was looking at the day before. Or perhaps it was earlier that day. It is impossible to tell time here; for all she knew, she could have been living there for years or mere days.

She opens the novel in her hands, letting it fall to a page she's previously marked. Naminé smiles; this is one of her favorite books. It talks about an island in the middle of the ocean, crystal and sparkling, always changing colors.

There is a drawer under the table she opens. She keeps her pencils here. She pulls the flap of the case and lets the pencils fall to the surface with small taps. Naminé closes her eyes and imagines the shore of the island; the waves pulsating on the land, the trees swaying to the sea breeze.

Soon, a flash of an image comes to her, almost like a forgotten memory, followed by a feeling of familiarity and grief. She ignores it and, with pencil in hand, begins to draw.

Each stroke is given special attention and detail as the scene takes shape. She needs no eraser; she makes no mistakes. Any slight smudge or mark fades into the background and becomes part of the picture. She takes care in choosing the colors; reds, oranges, violets, blues. The dark green of the plants. Naminé took this much care with all of her sketches: the sketch knew what it wanted to be and used her to give its image shape.

Much time passes, and when she is complete, the art is magnificent. The pristine image of a sunset beach, tide coming in complete with a background of vegetation. The drawing is a perfect replica of her vision. Naminé smiles, proud of herself.

Just then, Larxene comes in, head turning. "Ah, there ya are," she says with a sly grin. She walks up to where Naminé is at the table. Naminé looks up at her with big eyes. She'd rather look away, but that would make Larxene angry.

Larxene. Number XII. Element: Thunder. She had a tendency to let her anger get the better of her, and she had a wicked attitude. Those who knew what set her off stayed away, and most everyone did. She looked out for her self and only herself. If it benefitted her, she was in on it.

Another thing about her Naminé had learned: she hated children. Intelligence-wise, she wasn't exactly a child, but books are usually judged by their covers.

Larxene caught sight of the pencils and sketchbook. "Come on, brat, pack up the doodles," she motions over the mess. "Clean it up. Grab your things - Marluxia says we're leaving. Although I don't know why we're taking _you_," she softly mumbles to herself.

She walks out, not waiting on her, but Naminé doesn't have to be told twice. Swiftly, she slides the pencils in the case and back into the drawer. She flips the sketchbook cover over; she snaps the book shut and places it in it's position on the shelf.

Before she darts out, Naminé tucks her sketchbook under one arm, following Larxene. The library is back to the way it was before. She could have never been there.

--  
So. . . I've made sure that I try to include as much story as possible, while adding my own small touch to the characters. The story should run from the end of KH through CoM and 365/2 Days, all the way to KH 2.

Please review! I'll love you forevah.


	3. Interval 3

**INTERVAL 3:**

The familiar hallway. All the hallways gave her this strange, habitual feeling; the corridors prosaic in their simpleness. Larxene goes on briskly; Naminé switches to a more rapid pace to keep up. She wishes she would slow down. It wasn't too long ago she had woken up, after all.

Still, she wants to know what is going on. For Marluxia to send a message of departure without warning is a sign that something is going on, and she hopes Marluxia plans to let her in on it.

_Us? Who does she mean by us? _Namine wonders vaguely.

They continue on, the sound of their swift footsteps the only thing surrounding them. Naminé thinks of speaking, perhaps to ignite a conversation, but the silence isn't making her uncomfortable - just as well, she was used to it - and she isn't sure what to say anyway. Larxene probably valued her silence as well - Naminé didn't see her talk very much - and didn't like her too much to begin with.

_What a human thought_, she muses. She seems to be changing day-by-day, and Naminé isn't too sure she likes it.

After a few turns and a few more minutes, Larxene points her to a large wooden brown door, a splotch of color among the white and grey. "After you," she says, giving a mock bow. Naminé obediently enters the room.

It is now that she realizes where they were heading, standing in the middle of the Organization's meeting room. Although this room is as dull and bleak as any other, it is certainly more intimidating; the group of pale ivory thrones surrounding her, each individual seat uniquely shaped and heightened for each of the unique thirteen members. Naminé feels like an insect under the microscope; there are more people in the room other than herself, and they sit upon those gleaming thrones, staring down at her.

Larxene remains standing behind the girl, her arms crossed as if she is annoyed. She sighs and begins to briskly tap her foot. "I found the little brat for you. Explain this meaningless tale so we can leave; I'm getting impatient."

"So it seems. I appreciate the effort," the tall, long-haired Marluxia remarks atop one of the mentioned, heightened chairs. "Naminé. You're probably wondering why you're here." His slanted, narrowed eyes peer at her with as much curiosity as hers did at him.

Marluxia. Number XI. Element: Nature. He was quiet and sly, but when it came time for him to speak, he had a whole library of vocabulary at his dispense. He believed beauty spoke for itself, and she knew he was quite beautiful. Not necessarily attractive, but he radiated beauty, nonetheless. He was almost always seen with a flower - usually a large, tinted carnation or rose - but the flower in question is absent now, showing his seriousness.

Marluxia is also one of the only members who treats her like she exists for a reason. He was in charge of her watch: what she did, where she did it, even if that meant breathing. Xemnas was far too busy to keep track of a child, but she is a great asset to him, so Marluxia was appointed babysitter. That didn't mean he treated her as an equal; he just gave her the respect of a living being.

Naminé doesn't respond. She knows Marluxia is putting the sentence simply as a sort of greeting - she herself isn't expected to speak. She stands perfectly still, a feat she's learned to perform over time. Two other pairs of eyes look down at her. The cool, calculating perusal of Zexion and Lexaeus' empty, brutish stare. She can sense Vexen's sick, icy glare on her. He is leaning against a wall in the far corner of the vastly spaced room; the discomfort gurgles around in her imbalanced hollow of a stomach.

"Naminé." Marluxia's voice cuts the silence, getting straight to the point. "Clearly we have a reason for bringing you here."

She looks up again, training her eyes on his smooth, deep voice. He has a calming look on his face, that is slowly working to dissolve her tension. "We have been called to an assignment, far from headquarters," Marluxia continues, tapping his fingers along to the rhythm of Larxene's foot.

"What sort of assignment?" Naminé decides to question, her small soprano echoing off the walls and ceiling. She is getting a bit nervous, but is pushing that feeling away, as she doesn't even quite know what to expect yet.

"An assignment that has been given to the lot of us," Number XI answers, not wholly answering the question. Naminé scans the room with her perpherial vision once more. "An assignment straight from Xemnas himself," he continues, "and I've been instructed to take you along as well. Take what you may - we'll be leaving as soon as the others arrive."

Others? More were coming? This must have been an important mission, whatever it may be. Naminé had a feeling she wasn't just coming along to stay out of the master's way; she gives Marluxia a knowing glance. "Marluxia. . . "

"Yes, Naminé," he interrupts. "You have a job as well. All will be explained when we get there."

Just then, two more figures burst into the room. "Hey, Marly, we're all set here. Let's get a move on!" Axel shouts, towing in an altogether unpleased-looking Roxas. He casts a fiery gaze at Naminé. "Hey you got the girl! Okay then, let's go!"

Marluxia looks slightly annoyed, but nonetheless lets it pass. "As you wish, Axel. Everyone is present, I take it?"

Roxas. Roxas is going with them. Naminé can't help but stare at him from behind, her gut knotting in some strange way. As if sensing her, he looks over his shoulder and his cold glare sends her line of sight to the floor in shame.

"Yes," Roxas answers, his low voice that doesn't exactly match the older one's in comparision cutting in then. "Vexen is waiting for us."

"Finally," Naminé hears Larxene mumble. As everyone starts to file out, Naminé hangs back. "Marluxia?"

The members all freeze, staring at her again. She squirms invisibly under their looks. "Yes, Naminé?" he waits patiently.

"Where exactly is the mission to take place?" she asks, showing interest for the first time in something related to the Organization.

Marluxia's grins grows as everyone else continues leaving. The name sticks to her insides like dough. "Castle Oblivion."

Okay, now we're moving on to Castle Oblivion, where Naminé can soon get to work.  
In Interval Seven, they arrive at the Castle, and she becomes aquainted with her new surroundings, as well as her new mission.

Tempest says, Please Review!!


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